Personalization increases engagement with credit union web designs by 31%

Most credit union websites are one-size-fits-all experiences: one experience is designed for all visitors. But that approach inevitably leads to irrelevant interactions with website users because each individual is unique, and people visit credit union websites for hundreds of different reasons. What makes more sense is to create a credit union website design that adapts for each visitor based on data about the user.

Who are your users?

There are probably hundreds of different persona groups that use your site on a regular basis. But on a high level, credit union website users consist of three major groups: First-Timers, Shoppers, and Login-ers.

First-Timers

As the name implies, First-Timers are people who are visiting your website for the first time. They are probably nonmembers who are researching financial products and services.

Shoppers

A Shopper is a person returning to your website after showing interest in a product or service on a previous visit. For instance, let’s say a Shopper perused the auto loan page during her last session on your website. Therefore, her browsing behavior suggests she probably wants to buy a car.

Login-ers

A Login-er is a person returning to your website after logging into online banking on a previous visit.

What is personalization?

Personalization is simple and can increase engagement with your website by 31%. Here’s the gist: if someone shows interest in an auto loan, then show them more stuff about auto loans. That’s it. It just makes sense.

All you have to do is apply this concept to each of the personas you want to target (like the three groups I already identified above). The real trick is to display the personalized content in real-time, which can be done with personalization software.

Example of personalization on HFSFCU.org

Below is an example of personalization being used within a real credit union website design on HFSFCU.org.

Let’s say a woman—let’s call her Rebecca—goes to HFSFCU.org and visits the auto loan page:

 

As soon as Rebecca visits the auto loan page, the personalization software tags her interest as “auto loan.” Then, on her next visit to the homepage, personalization kicks in to show her an auto loan promotion:

When shown the personalized promotion, Rebecca is 31% more likely to click “apply now” and start an application:

How do we know personalization can increase clicks by 31%? Because we A/B tested personalization on HFSFCU.org and saw a 31% increase after 8,360 impressions across these five products and services:

  1. Auto loans
  2. Credit cards
  3. Personal loans
  4. Personal line of credit
  5. Autos for sale

Credit unions are “people helping people,” and personalizing your website brings that same mentality to digital interactions with your members. Furthermore, a credit union’s impact can be measured through metrics like number of members enrolled and loans given. Accordingly, adding personalization software to your credit union website design can both bring humanity to your digital branch and increase applications for membership, products, and services.

Get the case study with HFS to help you explain personalization to your boss:

Personalization Case Study with HFSFCU.org

And this article explains how to get personalization on your website:

How to personalize your credit union website & increase member engagement

Derik Krauss

Derik Krauss

Derik is a cofounder of BloomCU, an award-winning website design agency for credit unions. His agency's design work has received recognition from CUNA (Diamond Award), TheFinancialBrand.com, and others. He ... Web: bloomCU.com Details